Administration's Links to China Threatens National Security: Pompeo (Newsmax)
By Sandy Fitzgerald | Sunday, 16 October 2022 01:44 PM EDT
China's move for world power poses a security threat to the United States, considering that there are senior leaders in President Joe Biden's administration, "certainly the president of the United States and his family members" and people in the cabinet who "worked on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party," former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday during an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo"
"They had clients in China [and are] deeply connected," Pompeo, who worked in former President Donald Trump's administration. "I think we're only beginning to pull the threads. If you don't have actors who are putting the American people first, if there are other things, personal family interests or former business interests or friends that are still out doing that kind of peddling, it creates enormous national security risks."
"We need leaders at every level of the country focused singularly on representing the people they've been elected to serve," he added.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping Sunday called for faster military development while announcing no change in the country's policies while speaking as the Communist Party party opened its congress and before Xi is expected to appoint himself to a third five-year term in office.
Pompeo said that China has been pushing to become the world's major superpower for the last few decades and that its Communist Party has been at "economic war" with the United States for "all of that time."
"The United States just turned the other cheek," said Pompeo. "This has been Republicans and Democrats alike. We were the first administration to confront them in a serious way."
China's economic growth, he added, has been "all on the backs of the American people."
"The only way they were able to grow was by cheating and allowing the Chinese Communist Party to compete on terms that made it fundamentally unfair for American companies," said Pompeo. "We need leaders that are prepared to address this to challenge it. When we do, we'll be successful, I'm confident about that."
Meanwhile, Pompeo said that a letter China sent to the Hudson Institute, where he is a policy fellow was to all American leaders to warn them about challenging the communist government.
"It basically said 'Mike Pompeo, shut up,'" said Pompeo. "All we've done, frankly, in the days before was talk about how the Chinese Communist party is corrupt and doesn't truly represent the Chinese people. You can see that with the protests that are taking place today."
Pompeo said he has been sanctioned by the Chinese party and it is "making things difficult for those around me as well. They are determined, they are serious, and our response needs to equal that in every measure, Maria."
Pompeo also spoke out Sunday about the protests for women's rights in Iran, and called the protesters "courageous."
"They have been strong," he said. "They are putting light on what the regime has done to them for so many years and more power to them. I wish them every success. But those wishes are insufficient when you have an American government that has essentially sided with the regime."